A relatively healthy defensive front will be without senior defensive tackle Darrian Dyson a second week for a violation of team rules. That did allow freshmen defensive linemen such as Milord Juste playing time.

Two consecutive weeks, FIU fell behind early, getting rolled on the ground by Louisiana Tech then strafed in the air at UMass.

While the defense eventually got itself together, the offense seemed to lose even the will to try explosiveness.

That wasn’t helped when sophomore wide receiver Dennis Turner left Saturday’s game in the fourth quarter after hitting his head on the turf. Before that, Smith seemed still hampered by the thigh contusion he sustained at La Tech.